Kenaroglu Avukatlik Burosu > Istanbul, Turkey > Firm Profile

International Capabilities

Along with the services we provide before the judicial and administrative authorities in Turkey, we also manage IP portfolios of local and international companies in foreign jurisdictions –in Europe, UK and USA as well as Middle East and North African countries for many years.

We represent our foreign and local clients in the MENA region including Algeria, Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Tanzania (Tanganyika), South Africa, Gaza, Azerbaijan, Gambia, Georgia, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Cyprus, Djibouti, Eritrea, Palestine, Abkhazia, Tunisia, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, O.A.P.I, Benin, Central African Rep., Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Comoros, Togo, Qatar, Israel, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Jordan, Mauritus, Kuwait, Armenia, Artsakh, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Syria, West Bank, Yemen, KSA, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Niger, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Morocco through our local partners.

Apart from that, we also assist our local clients to handle all transactions before WIPO and handle all kind of IP matters in Europe, UK and USA via our cooperation with the leader law firms of these jurisdictions.

Our work includes all kind of prosecution transactions and various legal actions connected with the clients’ IP portfolio. The main purpose (and benefit) of our service is to free our clients from the burden and risks of handling their portfolios through many different local firms. This advantage becomes more visible when it is about the MENA region which is quite challenging for western companies in many terms.

Diversity

In Kenaroglu, championing and embracing diversity and inclusion (“D&I”) is set as the standard.  Kenaroğlu was founded by a female leader, which already represents a landmark for inclusion of female attorneys in a male-dominated work field and jurisdiction. We currently have two female partners out of three; nearly 60% – 40 % gender ratio in favour of female employees, 70% of the senior positions in our firm are consisting of female lawyers for which we are very proud. We are not only diverse but we truly embedded an inclusive culture.

We handle hiring proceedings delicately and strive to encompass a candidate pool with enriched diversity. During interviews for recruitment, we aim to create an amicable environment in order to go beyond the surface and get to know each candidate further in terms of understanding their ideas, creativity and perspective. We deliberately avoid any questions or comments in the job interviews with attorneys or administrative staff regarding their religious beliefs, sexual orientation or identity,  age, socio-economic status, family and marital status unless they wish to reveal such information on their own. We genuinely believe that a happy work environment and greater teamwork can be only secured if people are comfortable to be their authentic selves in the workplace.

Every member of Kenaroglu accepts responsibility for and performs his or her part to fulfil our Firm’s policy to D&I. A strong team where each individual feels confident in being who they are and as a member is the key to providing the best service to our clients.

We are also proud to mention that our new partner who joined our firm in 2023, Ms. Mine Güner is renowned for her specific efforts and achievements in the field of D&I. Prior to joining Kenaroglu, Mine Güner worked as a partner and Head of IP in Turkey office of Baker McKenzie where she co-established the local D&I Committee in 2014. For almost 10 years, she took active roles in different pillars of D&I such as LGBT rights, Gender, Disability, Cultural and Ethnic Diversity.  In 2022, she was personally rewarded with “Christine Lagarde Award” of Baker McKenzie global, which is granted to only one global D&I Champion every year, on a global basis.  She has been a member to LISTAG Allies, which is a community consisted of white-collar/private sector supporters of LGBT families in Turkey. She is advocating for increasing employment of LGBT people in the workplaces. She helped LGBT NGOs such as Spod (https://spod.org.tr/) , Kaos GL (https://kaosgl.org/ )  and LISTAG (https://listag.org/ )  in their legal needs on pro bono basis. She served as a member to D&I Committee of American Chambers of Association (“Amcham”) in 2021-2022. We truly believe that having Mine in our team will add great value to our dedication to D&I.

As a part of reflecting D&I into all policies at Kenaroglu, we provide our employees with a longer term of paid maternity or paternity leave compared to the legal rights regulated by the local legislation. We care about demonstrating the roles and responsibilities of both parents and parental leave is just one example of this.

Kenaroğlu also encourages joining and contributes to – with the firm’s monetary support – “women’s organizations” such as the Breast Cancer Foundation of Turkey, Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work and Mor Çatı Women’s Shelter Foundation. We encourage all team members to commit to our attempts in supporting such foundations and organizations.

Our principle at Kenaroglu is that everyone is equal and there are no barriers or privileges arising from religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or personal beliefs. Every member of Kenaroglu accepts responsibility for and preforms his or her part to fulfil our Firm’s policy to diversity and inclusion. A strong team where each individual feels confident in being who they are and as a member is the key to providing the best service to our clients.